Page 37 of Arrivals & Assets

“From the incubator?” I gasped.

Alan laughed. “That’s me!”

“Sir… it’s…” I fumbled over my words at having a literal billionaire standing a few feet from me.

He stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Please, call me Alan.”

I accepted the handshake with a bit of awe. Sure, I’d seen billionaires come in, but they were usually flanked by security and the top agents. To have one casually standing there chatting with me was something I’d never expected to happen.

“New mate?” Linden teased.

“I told you about him!” Dylan protested.

“Seeing and hearing are two different things,” Linden replied.

Dylan laughed. “Fair.”

Linden turned to me. “So,” he started, “Dylan says you work for the previous tenant.”

I nodded. “Well… worked. I’m out of a job after everything gets transferred.”

“What are you doing next?” Alan asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I looked around the empty lobby. “I think the fact that Carré pulled out means that there’s not a market for a man with my skills here.”

Alan snorted. “I don’t know about that.”

“Hmm?”

“The market wasn’t there forthem, but there’s a market here if you know where to look.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Carré’s a good name, and they’re gaining market share by being where the other high-value art insurers aren’t. But they forgot that of the eighty or so houses on Billionaire Row, only a handful of us live here full-time. Without a strong auction market, their potential was limited from the outset. If I’m bidding on an investment piece in New York or London, I’m having it appraised, insured, and stored in a freeport. I’m not going to risk shipping it here just to do the paperwork.”

He paused. “That said, when my mate David and I attend a gallery show opening and buy a barely-dry painting because he likes how it looks… that’s a different policy. The wine collection he’s building… Those things require insurance too. I have a guy in New York who handles a lot of it for me, and I fly him out as needed, but he’s said that he’s busy enough that it can be a struggle. I’m sure he’d much rather handle things there and let somebody else handle this side of the country.”

“Hmm…” I mused.

“One thing I learned when we got successful,” Linden added, “is how much is not covered by a standard homeowner’s policy. There might not be many multi-million dollar paintings here, but I would be willing to bet that in a town like this, there is plenty of meat on the bones.”

Alan nodded. “We’re here for something else today,” he said. “But drop by the incubator sometime and chat up some of thementors. I’m pretty sure you don’t need much. Small office somewhere, if that. You might be able to work from home to start. There are people who’ve been in your shoes, and they’ve got good advice.”

I started to smile, then my expression fell. I sighed. “I signed a non-compete.”

Alan shrugged. “There are options. Carré won’t want those small policies. I’d heard they took some, and I’m surprised they did. See if you can be an independent agent for anything that needs them, then contract with somebody else for the other stuff.”

“Hmmm…”

“Think about it,” he urged. “I think you’ll find plenty of business.”

I smiled and nodded. “I’ll do that… and drop by. I’d rather not have to start from scratch in a new industry.”

Alan reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “You’re welcome whenever you’re ready.” He paused. “But you might want to make it sooner than later.”

“Why?”

He chuckled. “That new bond bite makes me think you might have a bun in the oven. My David got so tired during the later months of his pregnancies. You probably want to have the paperwork out of the way so you can rest once that baby starts stealing your energy.”